STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) - World record holder Asafa Powell admitted
he was delighted to dominate a strong field and win the 100 metres at
the World Athletics Finals in Stuttgart on Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Jamaican came home in a time of 9.83seconds, just ahead of
Norwegian Jaysuma Saidy Ndure who ran a new national record of
10.06sec in the first of Stuttgart's two days of competition.

Jamaica's Michael Frater was third while Portugal's Francis Obikwelu
was fourth.

"I am very happy and impressed to run this great time," Powell
said. "It is still the third fastest time."

A disappointing third at the Osaka World Championships, Powell
admitted that he underestimated world champion Tyson Gay and promised
he would not make the same mistake at next year's Olympic Games.

In the men's 400 metres hurdles, Poland's Marek Plawgo snatched
victory over world champion Kerron Clement in a photo finish.

Plawgo, the surprise bronze medallist in Osaka, stumbled over the
line and it was his dive which gave him the win in 48.35 seconds.

American Michelle Perry took the 100m hurdles title after a heavily
disrupted race.

Sweden's European champion Susanna Kallur was one of three athletes
disqualified as the race had three false starts before double world
champion Perry won in 12.68seconds.

But it was a lacklustre run from Perry without the challenge of the
Swede, who had beaten her in the final three Golden League meetings
of the season.

World record holder and world champion Russian Yelena Isinbaeva once
again dominated the women's pole vault as she won with a leap of
4.87metres.

It took World and Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva to bring the long
jump competition to life with a third-round leap of 6.78metres and
the whole event was over in just 50 minutes.

Kenyan Edwin Soi kicked to a decisive victory in the 3000 metres
after breaking from the pack with the line in sight to win in a time
of 7min 48.81sec.

In the men's 400 metres, American LaShawn Merritt won in a time of
44.58sec, while Estonia's Gerd Kanter was the first Osaka world
champion to claim victory with a second-round winning effort of 66.54
metres in the men's discus.

France's Muriel Hurtis-Houairi won a tight women's 200m race in 22.73
over early leaders LaShauntea Moore and Debbie Ferguson who she
passed on the homestretch and just pipped on the line.

Newly-crowned world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal ran away with the
women's 1500 metres as she dominated a strong field including Russian
Yelena Soboleva and four other Osaka finalists.

And Vivian Cheruiyot, the second-fastest female 5,000m runner in
history, used a strong last lap to win the Kenyan-dominated race in a
time of 14mins 56.94seconds.

The event continues on Sunday.